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The sessions in this track are designed to help you decide if an academic job is for you and to help you prepare for what's in store for you on the academic job market. Topics include how to prepare for an academic interview and negotiate a job offer, whether a post-doctoral fellowship is right for you and how to best go about finding one, and how to make the transition from graduate student to new faculty, among others.
While this programming may be most helpful for students who are nearing the end of their graduate careers and beginning to explore their job prospects, new students are also encouraged to attend. It's never too early to start positioning yourself for the career you want!
In addition to the sessions listed below, be sure to check out the online resources that are available here (look under "Job Market and Beyond") for even more information.
"Surviving and Thriving as Faculty of Color and International Faculty" panel
March 2015
Sessions in this track include:
Data Analysis in Python Workshop
(Cross-listed with Preparing Future Professionals)
This workshop is designed to help beginning programmers quickly get up to speed with the Python programming language for the purpose of analyzing common types of scientific datasets. The workshop will start with Python basics, and cover the nuts and bolts of reading, cleaning, manipulating, and crunching data in Python, as well as common pitfalls and how to avoid them. Participants will become familiar with the Python modules most helpful for data analysis: Numpy, Scipy, Pandas, and Matplotlib.
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Women, Computing, Technology
The Graduate Division is hosting a series of seminars focused on women pursuing academic and non-academic careers in computing and related technological fields. Women face challenges in these fields as minorities, and organizations like the Anita Borg Institute help build communities and provide support to overcome these challenges. Speakers will share their knowledge and experiences, with a special emphasis on graduate students, and they will discuss how communities can form on campus to provide local support and resources for UC Merced students. All members of the campus community are welcome to attend, including and especially those interested in helping to organize a group on campus.
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Preparing for the Academic Job Market
This seminar is designed for graduate students who plan on applying for faculty and postdoctoral positions in academia. Panelists are faculty members recently hired at UC Merced, who have recent experiences and success on the academic job market. They will share their knowledge and advice on how to seek out and prepare for academic positions, including postdoctoral fellowships, research scientist positions, and both tenure and non-tenure track professorships.
The Academic Job Market: An Intro for Everyone (slides from the session)
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Preparing for the Postdoctoral Position
Join a panel of postdocs as they discuss their experiences in finding and securing a postdoctoral position, making the transition from graduate student to postdoc, what they do in their position, how the postdoc has helped propel them to the next step in their careers, and deciding where to go from the postdoc.
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New Faculty Panel
Join a panel of faculty completing their first year as professors as they review what surprised them, what they wish they had known earlier, and what helped them to successfully transition from graduate student or postdoc to professor.
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Surviving and Thriving as Faculty of Color and International Faculty
Faculty of color and international faculty will discuss their experiences in the academy: the specific challenges they've faced, how they have addressed these challenges, and the institutional features and structures that they have found to be the most supportive of faculty diversity.
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Choosing Between Academic and Nonacademic Sector Jobs: A Conversation with Faculty with Experience in Both Sectors
This forum is designed for students in engineering and natural sciences who are considering job opportunities for PhDs in industry and the academy. Our panel of faculty, who have worked in both industry and the academy, will discuss the pros and cons of both fields and answer questions about their experiences and how students can best position themselves for their desired field.
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Preparing for the Job Interview and Negotiating the Job Offer
Deans and unit chairs will discuss the academic job market from the perspective of the hiring committee, chair and dean, with a focus on what to expect in academic job interviews (phone/skype and on campus) and how to negotiate the job offer.
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